Tsunami tradegy offers god-given opportunity to convert and divide humanity.

[Guest guest]

shriadishakti , " jagbir singh "

<adishakti_org> wrote:

>

> shriadishakti , " yoginisahaja "

> <yoginisahaja> wrote:

> >

> > Dear brother Jagbirji,

> >

> > I thank you for response, really. I have given money, like you.

> > but other SYs saying this is not the way, Mother will do

> > everything for SYs in tsunami disaster, and work everything out

> > for us. They say giving money is not sahaj way, but i can't sit

> > down and rest from doing nothing to help. Its little anyway.

> >

> >

>

> At that time more than a decade ago Shri Mataji was refering to

> certain Christian groups collecting money to help their own, just

> like Muslim charities help their own. This is a selfish way of

> giving money and conditions you.

>

> If you want to donate give money annonymously to help all human

> beings, not to specific religious organizations collecting funds

> to help their kind. And don't feel proud and all puffed up if you

> donate. That was what Shri Mataji was trying to impress on us.

>

> It is indeed sad that some SYs do not understand what Shri Mataji

> is trying to say, and misinterpret/misconstrue Her talks. Please

> follow your own conscience and not these SYs. You should know

> there are 12 kinds of SYs, including the foolish and ignorant.

>

> jagbir

>

 

Religious aid groups try to convert victims

 

Muslim clerics object as Western Christian groups hand out food and

Bibles, reports Jason Burke in Banda Aceh

 

Sunday January 16, 2005

The Observer

 

Dozens of religious groups have moved in to Aceh, looking to help

tsunami victims - and convert them and others, creating tensions in

the disaster area.

 

The arrival of Western Christian groups with records of aggressive

preaching risks confrontation with local Muslim leaders which could

jeopardise the provision of aid to the 600,000 local people made

homeless by the disaster. The death toll in Aceh stands at around

110,000 and is expected to rise.

 

Reacting to the attempts of one American group to fly hundreds of

local children to a Christian orphanage, Din Syamsuddin, head of the

Indonesian Council of Clerics, said any attempt to spread religion

under the cover of aid was wrong.

 

'The Muslim community will not remain quiet. This a clear statement,

and it is serious,' he said.

 

Many survivors of the disaster are deeply traumatised by their

experience and thus, experts say, vulnerable to religious groups.

The disaster has led to a huge increase in religious sentiment. Many

Acehnese speak of the wave as a punishment from God for immorality

and lax Islamic practice, pointing out that in many villages only

the mosque was left standing.

 

'I had faith but never did what I should have done,' said Shinta

Ekhsani, a 29 year-old English teacher. 'I did not pray five times a

day. I did not teach my children about Islam. I was too

materialistic. Now I have changed.'

 

Most Indonesians follow a moderate strand of Islam, very different

from more hardline varieties increasingly prevalent in the Middle

East. Local Muslim groups were among the first to bring help to

victims. Aceh is Indonesia's most religiously conservative province.

 

However, more radical Muslim groups started arriving in the province

within days. These include the Islamic Defenders' Front, which has

attacked bars and shops selling alcohol in Jakarta, the Indonesian

capital, and Lashkar Mujahideen, which endorses a militant ideology

and has alleged links to the killing of Christians.

 

Last week, speaking outside a tent at Banda Aceh's busy military

airport under a banner reading 'Islamic Law Enforcement', Salman al-

Farizi said his group were in Aceh to give medical and food

assistance, remove corpses, evacuate refugees and to preach. 'The

survivors will be helped to spread the true word of Allah,' al-

Farizi said.

 

Elsewhere, groups are handing out Korans and even veils alongside

aid. Volunteers from the al-Azhar Foundation in Jakarta said they

had distributed 1,993 Korans to refugees from Lokh Nga, one of the

worst-hit villages. 'Many want to read the Koran to help them with

their trauma,' said Anwar Sani, director of the foundation.

 

Some Christian groups, however, are instructing workers not to

display church names or wear crosses.

 

'We prefer to address the physical needs first,' said William

Suhanda, an Indonesian whose Christian group, 'Light of Love for

Aceh', is helping distribute food in Banda Aceh and hopes to bring

50 children to a Christian orphanage in Jakarta. 'We also want to

expose them to Christian values... so they can see the other side,

that we're about the love of Christ,' he said.

 

Mark Kosinski, an American evangelist who arrived in Aceh from

Malaysia last week, said: 'These people need food but they also need

Jesus. God is trying to awaken people and help them realise

salvation is in Christ.'

 

One US Christian group was revealed last week to have tried to

airlift 300 'tsunami orphans' to a Christian children's home.

WorldHelp started raising funds for the operation until it learned

that the Indonesian government had banned non-Muslims from adopting

Acehnese orphans.

 

'What we were attempting to do in finding a home for these orphans

is no different from what Mother Teresa did in placing Hindu orphans

in a Christian children's home,' said Vernon Brewer, president of

WorldHelp.

 

The Church of Scientology has also established a presence in Banda

Aceh, setting up a base opposite the governor's mansion. 'We are not

here to proselytise. That would be distasteful,' said Greg

Churilov. 'We hope we are just seen as another relief group.'

 

However, there are also opportunities for co-operation. The US

navy's high-profile effort to assist Indonesia deliver aid has

helped counter anger over the Iraq war. The Islamic Defenders' Front

spent much of this week removing corpses from collapsed homes

alongside an Indonesian Christian group. Mormons have teamed up with

Islamic relief operations to send aid to the region.

 

Last week, the UN even asked Lashkar Mujahideen to unload a plane of

relief supplies because it was short of personnel.

 

Religious aid groups try to convert victims

Sunday January 16, 2005

The Observer